Victory for Teachers

Updated April 29, 1999 12:01 a.m. ET

The public-school teachers unions have long claimed to speak for all educators, but the evidence keeps piling up that they don't. For example, over 40% of teachers vote Republican, while 99% of their union political contributions feed the Democratic Party. Now a federal judge in California has put strict limits on the games the unions play with teachers' paychecks.

The Supreme Court's Beck decision back in 1988 held that unions must rebate to non-members dues money spent on politics or extraneous activities. But President...